Monday, September 29, 2014

Creative Blog Hop

Hi everyone!

Today I am participating in the Creative Blog Hop. I was very honored when Leni of Between Paper and Nature asked me to continue the hop after her.

When reading Leni's post, I was so surprised to learn that we discovered stamps in exactly the same place! Just like Leni, I was hooked after visiting the Posthumus stamp shop. It's a lovely little shop, and if you ever visit Amsterdam, you should go by!
The shop is just a 5 minute walk down the street from where I used to work, so I have spent many of my lunch breaks browsing through stamps there. ;-)

My stamping and card making journey started in 2010. For my boyfriend's birthday that year I gave him a trip. As I didn't have a physical gift for him, I thought a very large card would be fun. Although I didn't use any stamps for that card, I did buy my first Hero Arts stamps at the Posthumus shop shortly afterwards. These were love themed, and you can see the first card I ever stamped here. Even though it's pink, it was for my boyfriend, and it's still hanging on our fridge today. :-)

Now, let's get on to the questions.

1. What am I working on now?
I've been working on an order for a wedding card where the request was lots of gold. I had so much fun making this card featuring five different gold elements.

Gold Wedding Card | Small T Creations

In the picture above you can see some gold glitter enamel hearts. I'm working on a tutorial on how you can make these yourself and will be sharing this with you soon as well.

DIY Glitter Enamel Hearts Tutorial - Coming Soon! | Small T Creations

2. How does my work differ from others?
I always use stamps. If possible, I want to stamp every element on my card. :-) Therefore I rarely use patterned paper.

Also, my style is quite clean. Often clean and simple. I can also have multiple layers or distress inking on my cards, yet I think they always have a clean look.

I just made this card* and showed it to my mom. Her response was: "This is SO you! I love it!" Hehe, so I guess this card shows my style quite well.

Clean & Simple Congratulations Card | Small T Creations

3. Why do I create what I do?
I just love stamping and making cards! Love it! :-) It really is my passion. And stamping is a way for me to relax and to express myself creatively.

My cards are my art. When I talk about my hobby, people often tell me that I light up. I love to create something beautiful, and I hope to spread the joy I felt while creating the card when I give it to someone else.

4. How does my creative process work?
When I have a specific person in mind for a card, I think of what that person likes and see if I have stamps and ink colors that fit. Very often I get ideas from the stamps themselves. And of course I get inspiration from Pinterest and other card makers. There's so much talent in the card making community, and I love seeing what you all make!

I love the creative process of designing the card, stamping, trying out new techniques etc, so my cards usually take quite a while to make. Typically, a card takes between one hour to a whole day to make. I put a lot of my heart and soul into each card.

Another reason why my cards take so long, is that I am quite meticulous. If something is one millimeter off, it bothers me.. ;-) But I have learned to (sometimes) say to myself that nobody else will ever notice and that I need to move on. It's good enough. It's not perfect (in my eyes), but good enough. Can you relate?

I also come up with card designs when I cannot sleep at night. It relaxes me.

Who's next?
I'm very happy and honored that Sarah of My Impressions will be following me up next week! She is a very talented lady, and you should definitely check out her blog.

I would also like to invite all of you to participate in the Creative Blog Hop. And if you do, please leave me a link to your post in the comments. I'd love to get to know you better!

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Love,
Tone

*I'm entering this card into the following challenges: Simon Says Monday Challenge: Finishing Tough, Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes and Addicted to Stamps Challenge #114: CAS
Stamps: Hero Arts Looped Flower Pattern and Hero Arts Say It All
Card stock: Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue

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17 comments :

  1. Beautiful card - love that happy blue! Thanks for playing along with us at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!

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  2. I do like the bold blue background and the lovely pattern. Thanks so much for playing along with ASM this week!

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  3. I really loved to read your blog post! So nice to learn you know a little better. I am also of the millimeter thing. Can understand that! Love your cards. Looking forward to see how you make your own gold embellishments! So cool that you found Sarah to follow you up!

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    1. Hi Leni, Thank you for your sweet comment! :-) The gold embellishment tutorial is coming soon. xo

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  4. Great to get to know you a bit! Fabulous card - LOVE this color! Great to see you playing with us at ATSM. Come back next time, too! Hugs, Cornelia DT

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  5. So nice to get to know you a little more Tone!!

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    1. Thank you so much for reading my post, Cindy! I really appreciate it! :-)

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  6. Wow you are so talented! Hele mooie creaties!

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  7. So fun to get to know you a bit! Thanks for including me in the hop and for your kind words. :)

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    1. Sarah, I also loved reading your post! Thanks for continuing the hop after me! :-)

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  8. This card is really beautiful! It is modern and fresh, yet full of energy and POP with that amazing color palette. I am in love with the pattern you chose and the sentiment stands out perfectly. It is sophisticated and elegant and I'm so glad that you shared your talents with us here at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog!

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment, Andrea! :-)

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